Will flats get food waste bins in Bracknell Forest?

CONTROVERSIAL changes to how often non-recycling is collected will not affect residents in flats when the borough’s new bin timetable is rolled out in the coming weeks. 

Starting March 1, food waste will be collected from households weekly and non-recycling in green bins will be collected every three weeks instead of every two weeks.

With the changes imminent, some residents who live in flats had expressed concerns their shared non-recycling bins would overflow if the new collection timetable applied to them. 

But flats and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) will not be impacted by the changes. 

Why not?

Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) approved the changes to its bin timetable back in January 2020. 

It was agreed the rollout of the new changes should be done in two phases, with households receiving food waste bins first.

It was hoped the changes would be in place for households by October 2020, with flats and HMOs potentially following suit in April 2021. 

READ MORE: Council says certain items could make green bins smell

But the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to that plan and pushed back the changes for households to March 2021. 

Now, bosses at the council are considering when food waste bins and any potential changes to non-recycling collection could be introduced to flats. 

Councillor Dorothy Hayes, BFC’s environment chief, said: “The waste changes from March 2021, which were approved by the council’s executive in January 2020, were for houses in the borough only. 

“Flats and properties with communal bins are not currently included in the food waste collection scheme and so their waste collection schedule remains unaffected.”

When could the changes be introduced for flats and HMOs?

Part of the July 2020 agreement to postpone the collection changes for households from October 2020 to March 2021 included a plan to investigate the possibility of rolling out food waste collection for flats and HMOs by autumn 2021. 

The July report suggested the council’s scrutiny team will start investigating the possibility of introducing food waste collection after the scheme is rolled out to households in March. 

Flats and HMOs will need to be assessed for space in their bin storage areas and suitability for food waste collections, the report claimed. 

READ MORE: When will I receive my food waste bins?

Landlords, housing associations and management agents would also need to be on board with the new service. 

Councillor Hayes added: “While we want this to be a borough-wide service, introducing food recycling collections in flats is a much more complicated process. 

“We need to consider a number of additional factors, including access and size of properties, and so we need additional time to plan for such a rollout. 

“Our aspiration is to introduce it later this year to flats and communal properties after we have carefully considered and reviewed essential factors like food bin sizes, storage and the frequency of collection, and spoken to managing agents and landlords.   

“We will keep residents of these properties informed as and when we have more information for them.”

Bin changes: what households need to know

What is changing and when will bin collections start?

Weekly food waste collections will be introduced for households only, meaning green non-recycling bins will be collected every three weeks instead of every fortnight to offset the cost of the new food waste bins.

The changes will begin on Monday, March 1.

Blue recycling bins will still be collected every fortnight.

READ MORE: Petition against green bin changes gets more than 3,000 signatures

Some residents have started seeing caddies, caddy liners and an information package delivered to their doors, with the remaining deliveries expected until February 26.

Why are these changes being introduced?

By recycling food waste, BFC hopes to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill by 50 per cent — a move it says will contribute to its goal of tackling climate change.

In order to provide food waste collection, however, BFC is reducing how frequently it collects green non-recycling bins.

In a January 2020 report published by the council, it was claimed: “reducing the refuse collection frequency will improve the performance of a food waste service as well as increasing the use of the current recycling services compared to if the refuse service remained the same as currently.”

According to BFC, recycling leftovers could mean almost 4,000 tonnes of food is directed away from landfill.

How much will the changes cost?

Introducing weekly food waste collections and emptying green bins every three weeks instead of every two weeks will save the council around £185,000 over the next seven years.

According to a January 2020 report, introducing weekly food waste collections and emptying green bins every two weeks would have cost the authority £2.29 million over the next seven years.

How do residents feel about the changes?

The move to introduce three-weekly non-recycling bin collections attracted opposition last year.

More than 3,000 people signed a petition against the switch and many residents continue to vent their frustration with the plan online.

However, it appears most residents are in favour of the new food waste collection service.

A statement on the petition page reads: “To make it clear, we are not against the food waste bins, but we are VERY much against the three weeks collection.”

Was there a vote and a consultation on the changes?

Bracknell Forest Council chiefs held a press conference in January 2020 to announce the introduction of food waste bins and the changes to the green-bin collection for households. 

Here, representatives of local groups and the press had the opportunity to ask council bosses about the plans.

Later in January, the council’s executive — made up of the council’s top eight councillors — approved the changes.

In July, the executive approved a delay to the introduction of the changes following issues caused by the pandemic.

What can go in my bins now?

Households with black food waste bins will be able to accommodate all cooked and uncooked food, meat and fish bones, tea bags and coffee grounds, vegetable peelings, banana skins and apple cores, pet food, out of date food (without packaging), cooking oil in a sealed plastic bottle (this needs to be in the outdoor caddy on collection day).

Households with green non-recycling bins can carry broken toys, disposable nappies, polystyrene, black plastics, such as biscuit or chocolate box trays, plastic film, any other waste which can’t be recycled.